Ice-creeper



1 r UNrTED Srnnrc s PATENT Orrrca.

' HENRY BLAND, or LUTON, ooonrr or BEDFORD, Assre'non TO WILLIAM BROWNLAssoELL, or LONDON, ENGLAND.

lCE-CREEPER, etc.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 252,349, dated January17, 1882. Application filed November 23, 1881. ('0 mod 1.) Patented inEngland August 29. 1881.

To all whom tr may concern: I replaced, and will fit various sizes ofboots or Be it known that I, HENRY BLAND, a sub shoes, while the spikes,being secured to the ject of the Queen of Great Britain, and residmetalstrips or links by riveting or otherwise,

. ing atLuton,county of Bedford, England,have will be much more firmlyheld upon the foot invented an Ice-Creeper or Deviceto be Apthan whenthey are simply inserted into the plied to a Boot or Shoe to PreventSlipping, leather sole direct. Moreover, allinjury to the (for which Ihave obtained a patent in Great sole and the changing of the boot orshoe for Britain, numbered 3,760, dated August 29, the particularpurpose required is entirely oh- 1881,) of which the following is aspecification. viatecl'.

1o My'said invention relates to a peculiar con- In order that my saidinvention maybe fully I struction and arrangement of a removable eX-understood, I shall now proceed more particu- I panding and contractingappliance to be worn larly to ,describe the same, and for that puron aboot or shoe in order to afford a better 'pose shall refer to theseveral figures on the foothold or prevent persons slipping whenexplanatory sheet of drawings hereunto an- 1 walking or running; also,to the mode of atnexed, the same letters of ret'erenceindicating 6 5taching or securing the same. The said apcorresponding parts in all thefigures. pliance is also suitable for use in games-such Figure l of mydrawings represents an un-. as cricket, football, tennis, and thelike-or as der side plan view of one form of my improved an ice-creeper.appliance fitted to the sole of an ordinary boot 2o Myimproved applianceconsists,essentially, or shoe and adapted .for use in cricket and offour narrow thin steel links or strips jointed other like games where itwill be subjected to to three clamps at their extremities and to asevere strains. Fig.2 is a corresponding side a metal loop or,connecling-piece at the rear elevation ofthe sameappliancedetached.Fig.

end, the whole forming an expanding light 3 is a side elevation ofa bootor shoe, drawn to 2 frame. The front clamp is bent over so as to asmaller scale, showing the mode of securing take a firm hold of the toeof the sole, and the the said appliance and the arrangement of the twoside clamps are similarly bent over, so as sechring-straps. Fig. 4 is aplan showing the to embrace firmly the two opposite sides ofthe uppersurface, or that next the sole of the boot sole near the waist of theboot or shoe. The or shoe, of a slightly modified and lighter con- 0 twolonger links, forming the front poition of struction of the saidappliance as adapted for 8o the appliance, are provided with conicalsteel ordinary walking purposes or as an ice-creeper.

- spikes to improve the foothold, while the two A A and B B are the fournarrow thin steel shorter links, forming the rear portion of the linksor strips. 0, O, and U are the three appliance, and which may or may notbe proclamps. D is the metal loop through which 35 vided with spikes,act as toggle-jointed levers, the fastening-strap or its equivalent,E,is which,when drawn back toward the heel,tend passed. a care theholding steel spikes seto produce a simultaneous gripe of the threecured into the two longer links, A A, as shown clamps upon the toe andthe two opposite sides t in Fig.1, and in-some cases also into theshorter of the sole near the waist, such gripe being links ortoggle-jointed levers, B B, as shown in 40 brought or maintained inaction by the aid of Fig. 4. The front ends of the links A are each 0 astrap or its equivalent passing through the separately connected by ajoint-pin, b, of its metal loop attached to the rearjoint and carown tothe front or toe clamp, U, while the ried upward slightly, so as to passround the. rear ends of the same links are jointed to the back of theboot or shoe just above the heel of outer ends of the shorter links,,BB, as well as V 45 the wearer. Clhis strap maybe supported in to theside clamps, O C, by otherjoint-pins,b, 5

its proper position,if found desirable, by asecpassing through the twolinks and clamp. 0nd looped strap passing across the instep, Thecontiguous or inner ends of the-shorter through the loops of which strapthe 'tightenlinks,B B, arejointed together and tothe metal ing-strap ispassed. The above-described exloop D by the joint pin b. Theseveraljointo panding appliance can be readily removed and pins b b b bmay be so shaped as to form I00 holding-spikes in themselves, as shownin the drawings. The clamps each consist of a piece of metal bent upinto the form of a hook or hooks ate, the base d of the clamp fitting 5against the under side of the sole and receivingthejoint-pinsbborb.These several clamps are each made self-adjusting by being left free toswivel or turn more or less. on the joiut-pins,

and consequently fit the edge of the sole both at the toe and sides withgreat accuracy. The

hooked part coverlaps slightly the projecting surface of the sole at thepart below the upperleather of the boot or shoe.

E is the main securing-strap or its equiva- 1 5 lent, which passesthrough the metal loop D and is then carried backward and upwardslightly,

- so as to pass round the back of the boot or shoe just above the heelof the we rer, this strap being maintained in position, it found desira-2o ble, by the looped cross-strap F, passing over the instep, as will beclearly understood on referring to Fig. 3. The appliance having beensufficie'ntly expanded or opened out to admit of the several hooks ofthe clamps passing over the edge of the sole, it is, when adjustedin itsproper position, readily and effectively secured onto the boot or shoeby simply tightening the strap E, which, by drawing backward thejoint ofthe toggle-levers B B, causes the appliance 0 to contract laterally andits clamps to gripe forcibly the edges of the sole. The appliance can beinstantly loosened and removed when no longer required for use by simplyreleasing the strap E.

Although I prefer to connect each of the two 3 5 side clamps, 0 G, withthe links orstrips A and B by asingle joint-pin, b, as shown, and toconnect in like manner the contiguous or adjoining ends of the shorterlinks, B B, with the metal loop D by a singlejoint-pin, b, it is obviousthat the two separatejoint-pins, as shown in the front clamp in Fig. 1,may be used, if desired, in all cases.

Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my saidinvention and the manner in which the same is or may be usedor carriedinto effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that what I consider to benovel and original, and therefore claim, is

A device to be applied to a boot or shoe to prevent slipping, comprisingtwo long spiked links, jointed at their front ends to a toe-clamp and attheir rear ends to side clamps two shorter strips jointed to said sideclamps and to a metal loop, and a fastening strap or device connectedwith said metal loop, all combined and operating substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereofI have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses. Y

HENRY BLAND.

Witnesses:

CHAS. MILLS, WM. GOR'l-ON, Both of 47 Lincolns Inn Fields, London.

